2009-07-05 - 07 Papa Stour

After Walls we set course for the island Papa Stour. Papa Stour is formed from volcanic lava and ash and then sculptured by the sea. Some of the moit exiting and beautiful sea caves in Britain can be found on this island. However to be able to explore the caves, which are mainly on the south and west side, the sea has to be very settled as any swell would make the caves inaccessible. We anchored in Hamna Voe on the south side. A perfect sheltered lagoon but with a narrow inlet with only two meters of water at low tide but the lagoon the opens up and gets deeper. Yet again we were blessed with perfect weather and only a light breeze coming from NE so the conditions for exploring the caves on the south and west side of the island was perfect. We set of in our little inflatable Zodiac with the outboard engine on and some spare fuel. We went in and out of one cave more existing than the other. The light and sound in all cave were different. Some caves had one or more openings in the ceiling and birds were nesting on the sides. Any other normal day with a fresh SW or W breeze this mission would have been more or less impossible or at least very dangerous as the swell would hammer the cost and running around in a dingy as we did would not be recommendable. On the far west end of the island are some smaller islands or “skerries”. One of them is Lyra Skerry. This island has subterranean passages (caves going straight through) in both S -N and E – W directions, creating a water crossway in the middle of the island. On both the south and north side of Lyra Skerry is high stacks of rocks pointing to the sky. All caves and arches are originally tunnels of ash and other softer material in the lava formation that the sea has eroded away during millions of years.
On the NW corner of Papa Stour is an immense cliff, 87 meters high with a tunnel leading right through it for several hundred meters. As the cave is winding back and forth the daylight disappears and a powerful torch light is essential as it’s gets pitch dark in the middle. The tunnel is named the Hole of Bordie. If the weather is good and the sea is settled you should try to pass through if you dare, it’s worth the effort I can promise, but maybe not for the faint hearted. After several hours of exploring it was time to get back to the boat. About 200 meters from the boat we ran out of fuel on the outboard and as I had brought a spare can but not a funnel we had to row the last bit back. Well it could have been worse, a lot worse, if we had run out of fuel earlier on the west side instead of in the sheltered lagoon. The following day we explored parts of the island on dry land this time before leaving for our next port Brear.

Exploring the caves by dingy.

The sun shines in the Kristian's Hole. According to some the finest sea cave in Britain.

The far end of Kristian's Hole ending with a beach and the sun shining though a narrow hole in the ceiling.

Lyra Skerry with the stack on the south side and the S - N cave opening to the left.

The north side opening of the passage through Lyra Skerry with the noth side stack with arch.

The west sife opening to the Hole of Bordie winding straight through the 87 meter high cliff on the NW side.

Kajsa in the dingy on the shore of Hamna Voe.

The churce on Papa Stour.

A rebuilding of a typical Norse House (from the viking age). Logg house protected by stones on the most exposed sides. A combination of scandinavian and local building traditions.

Mona and Kajsa in the Burnt Mounds of Mid-Setter. The turf was used for fuel during the fishing period in the mid 1800 hundreds and has still not recovered.

Sea Wind for anchor in Hamna Voe. Looking SW with the narrow inlet to the far right in the picture.